Osun election: 97 percent of INEC staff arrived at polling stations at 8:30 a.m. – CDD

By Adeleye Kunle

According to data from the Centre for Democracy and Development’s Election Analysis Centre (EAC), 97% of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) poll staff arrived at polling units in Osun by 8:30 a.m.

Dr. Ayomola Oluranti, an analyst at CDD-EAC and a Senior Lecturer at Babcock University in Ogun, made the revelation in Abuja on Saturday during the centre’s first interim statement on the Osun Governorship Election.

According to Oluranti, the CDD-EAC sent 300 trained and accredited observers to collect information on key aspects of voting and related processes.

She stated that the goal was to determine the credibility of the election in meeting and satisfying canons of electoral integrity under Nigerian laws and international codes and standards through evidence-based analysis.

According to Oluranti, the data also showed that 79% of INEC poll officers addressed voters before the official polling time of 8:30 a.m.

She also stated that the data showed that critical election materials were present in at least 92% of polling units.

“These are ballot papers, BVAS devices, result sheets, ballot boxes, and voter registers.” They were available to conduct the election, a significant improvement over the 83 percent recorded in Ekiti.

“CDD-EAC observes that INEC has taken some steps to address some of the gaps identified in the Ekiti State Governorship Election last month.”

“INEC has embedded officials of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the INEC situation room in Osogbo to assist with issues surrounding personnel deployment and voting material movement,” she said.

The commission, according to Oluranti, conducted mock accreditation exercises in Osogbo, Borife, Ede, and Egbedore to test the preparedness of its trained staff and the efficiency of the BVAS.

She stated that the simulated accreditation exercise performed to determine the readiness of the 5,306 BVAS machines appeared to have been successful.

She added that a BVAS machine and compliance were present in 99 percent of the polling units visited, with two polling units in Ife Central and Irepodun reporting the absence of BVAS machines at 9:30 a.m.

However, CDD-EAC observers reported cases of political party agents campaigning and canvassing for votes near polling units in 14 local government areas, accounting for 9.6 percent of the polling units observed, according to the analyst.

According to Oluranti, the violations of the Electoral Act 2022 were mostly reported by observers in Ife Central, Odo Otin, Osogbo, Oriade, and Irepodun.

She also stated that CDD-EAC observers observed unremoved campaign posters at some polling units, while political party agents canvassed for votes openly.

She claimed that some political actors were using fake news stories, misleading image captions, and the sharing of dead online links to mislead voters.

“CDD-EAC fact-checkers have also documented political actors’ claims and counter-claims regarding allegations of vote buying.”

“CDD-EAC fact-checkers have been working to independently fact-check online and offline misinformation capable of undermining voter confidence using online tools and a variety of verification techniques.”

“One of the major fake news stories that began trending this morning as voters headed to the polls is the claim that Peoples Democratic Party Candidate, Ademola Adeleke, had been sacked by a court,” she said.

Oluranti stated that CDD-EAC fact checkers verified the claim and determined it to be false.

She went on to say that CDD-EAC fact-checkers discovered a claim in which a candidate asked voters to swear that they would vote for him before he would pay them.

She stated that CDD-EAC fact-checkers discovered nothing on the circulated image to support the claim.

“Our fact-checkers also noted that the image circulated to support the claim was taken at the time the candidate was voting,” she said.

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